Patent Application
20060198135
The present invention generally relates to fluorescent luminaires. More specifically, the present invention relates to a fluorescent wall wash luminaire with a lamp that may be moved to adjust the light distribution pattern emitted by the luminaire.
One type of fluorescent luminaire is a wall wash luminaire. A wall wash luminaire typically includes a ceiling mounted housing that is mounted adjacent a vertical surface such as a wall. Fluorescent lamps and a specular reflector are located within the housing. The housing and the reflector are configured so that the majority of the light emitted by the lamps is directed towards the wall. One example of a wall wash luminaire is the FW 102 luminaire that is commercially available from Columbia Lighting of Spokane, Wash.
In order to provide an even amount of lighting on an illuminated wall surface, it is desirable that the light emitted from the luminaire is emitted in an asymmetric pattern. This allows more light to be directed towards the portions of the wall which are further away from the luminaire.
One disadvantage of most wall wash luminaires is that the reflectors and the lamps are in a fixed position, and the light emitted by the luminaire is therefore emitted in a fixed pattern. This means that the luminaire must be mounted in a precise position in order to evenly light a desired surface. Often, however, it is not possible to precisely position a luminaire due to mounting requirements.
In order to address this disadvantage, there have been attempts to provide adjustable luminaires. Examples of adjustable luminaires are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,118 B2 to Shemitz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,585 to Littman et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,815 to Littman et al., each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Although the adjustable features of those luminaires ease the disadvantages described above, a continuing need exists for an improved fluorescent wall wash luminaire.
One object of the present invention to provide a wall wash luminaire with an adjustable light distribution pattern.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a luminaire with a fluorescent lamp mounted on a movable base so that the lamp may be repositioned to adjust the light distribution pattern of the luminaire housing.
A further object of the present invention to provide a luminaire with a lamp which may be moved to adjust the pattern of light emitted by the luminaire.
The foregoing objects are basically attained by a fluorescent wall wash luminaire that has a housing with an opening for light generated by a fluorescent lamp to exit the housing. A portion of the housing forms an inclined base, and a socket pan holding a lamp socket for the fluorescent lamp is slidably mounted on the inclined base. The position of the socket pan may be adjusted by sliding the socket pan along the inclined base between an upper position and a lower position. The socket pan is held in place by a latching plate mechanism formed by a latching plate and a latching spring. The latching mechanism holds the socket pan in the upper position, the lower position, and selected positions between the upper and lower position. The amount and distribution of light emitted by the luminaire varies depending on the position of the lamp along the inclined base, thereby providing the ability to adjust the distribution of emitted light.
Other objects, advantages, and salient features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the invention.
Referring to the drawings which form a part of this disclosure:
Referring initially to
The luminaire housing 12 is preferably constructed of die-formed, code-gauge, cold-rolled steel and, as best seen in
The front housing portion 30 forms the front wall 40 and top wall 42 of the housing 12. The front wall 40 and top wall 42 are preferably at a substantially right angle to one another. A lip 44 on the bottom edge 46 of the front wall 40 strengthens the edge and provides locations for mounting the housing to a supporting structure. Two tabs 48 extend generally perpendicularly from the inside of the front wall. Preferably, the tabs are formed by punching the front wall of the housing to form the tab shape and folding the tab shape inward to form the tab. The back edge 50 of the top wall 42 is formed with an offset 52 so that it cooperates with the back wall 54 of the housing 12, as seen most clearly in
Referring to
Returning to
A second wall 72 of the back housing portion 32 is preferably at a substantially right angle to the inclined base 18, and a vertical wall 74 extends generally vertically. The second wall 72 and the vertical wall 74 are at an approximately 120° angle to one another. A base section 76 extends generally horizontally from the vertical wall 74 and terminates in a lower lip 78. As best seen in
The right hand end cap 34 and the left hand end cap 36 are attached to the left end 90 and right end 92 of the housing 12. The end caps are attached to the front and back housing portions 30, 32 by any suitable means, such as screws. Specular reflectors 94 are located on the internal side of the end caps. The reflectors are preferably constructed of low iridescent specular anodized aluminum.
Each plate 26 of a pair of generally rectangular latching plates has a plurality of adjustment recesses 96 and mounting apertures 98. The adjustment recesses 96 are apertures in the illustrated embodiment; however, they may simply be recessed portions. As seen in
The lamp socket 22 is mounted on the socket pan 20, and is suitably and conventionoally electrically connected to the ballast 56. The lamp socket 22 is a standard fluoresecent socket base, such as a 2G11 base. A lamp suppport 136 is provided on the socket pan 20 to support the end of the flourescent lamp 16. As seen most clearly in
A generally rectangular specular reflector 124 has a first edge 126 and a second edge 128. The first edge 126 of the reflector is bent to form an angle and has two slots 130 located in it. The two slots 130 cooperate with the tabs 48 located on the front wall 40 of the housing 12 to hold the reflector in place. The second edge 128 of the reflector 124 has two retaining slots 132 as well. These retaining slots 132 cooperate with the reflector retaining tabs 116 located on the top edge 118 of the socket pan 20 to fasten the reflector 124 to the socket pan 20. When the socket pan 20 is moved from an upper position to a lower position (or vice versa), the end of the reflector which is attached to the socket pan also moves, thereby changing the relationship between the lamp and the reflector.
To hold the socket pan 20 in place in various positions along the inclined base, two retaining springs 28 are provided and are fastened to the housing by screws or any other suitable fasteners. The retaining springs 28, which are illustrated in
While various embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application is related to application Ser. No. ______, which is entitled Flourescent Luminaire With A Sliding Mechanism For Adjusting Lamp Position, filed concurrently herewith, and invented by the same inventor, W. LeGrand Fowler, Jr. That application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
